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Help-Strange Wee

I have a 7 year old house rabbit (mini Lop) called Toby. He has been house trained for many years however over the last 5 months or so he has been weeing on the floor outside his cage. I have noticed that not always but sometimes his wee is thick and creamy looking, and if left to dry becomes almost chalky. Toby has always gone to the toilet in his sawdust which absorbs the wee straight away so I am unsure as to wether this is normal for a rabbit or if I need to get him to the vet.

Also on the subject of him weeing on the floor - does anyone have any ideas why he might be doing this after all this time as it is now causing problems, I have two young children who adore him but are now spending less time with him because of the unhygenic mess he is making. Up until recently he had the full run of the house when we are home but now I have had to start restricting him his room only. We have recently got a Bearded Dragon but they have nothing to do with each other and are housed in separate rooms however could our new arrival somehow upset him?

Thanks for any advice you can give

Maxine
 
I believe the wee is normal.

Sounds like he has started marking his territory for some reason or other, could even be a different sound or smell?

Others who are more knowledgeble may have more answers.

Rabswood
 
The wee goes chalkier the more calcium they consume. A little trace is good as it sugests they are getting enough calcium, toothpaste like wee is bad becuase they are eating too much and it can cause kidney stones.

You can help by not feeding cabbage, alfafa hay and limitting alfafa (legume) based pellets. Bulk up the diet with lower calcuim veg like mange tout, raddish, spring greens, carrots, apples & dark green lettuce, although the high sugar ones should be fed sparingly.

If he has peed outside the cage, soak it up with some kitchen roll and pop back into the cage. Clean the area with a little biological washing liquid, allow to soak then sponge off. You could also give it a blast with white vinager. By removing the smell off wee to only the place where he should go he might retrain himself.

But generaly loss of litter training should probably be investigated by a vet. It may be some sill disruption that you've hardly noticed or it could be old age. However, there is a paracite called EC that can cause incontinence, bladder infections or kidney stones.
 
if its very chalky then he may, for some underlying reason, have a calcium/urine problem and sometimes , as a consequence there can be a urine infection. the infection can then cause peeing outside of the litter tray.

So :
go to the vets:
find out if there is an infection (the vet will take a sample);
treat if there is BUT also try and find out what triggered it in the first place.

You may want to ask for blood test (for EC) or an x-ray for kidney or bladder stones.

Its all much simpler than it sounds!

And don't worry about the kids - there is little that you can catch from rabbits!
 
As others have said it is worth getting him checked out by the vet to put your mind at rest.

However I have found that as rabbits get older they do tend to become a bit lazy with their toilet habits, maybe he has a bit of arthritis in his back legs which makes it a bit painful for him to jump in his cage.
The fact that he is going next to the cage rather than just anywhere makes me think that he is not having general incontinence problems but rather knows where he is supose to go, but maybe just finds it too much hassel to get right in
 
Thanks

Hi

Thanks to everyone for the great advice. I have booked Toby in to see the vet next week, meanwhile I have made a few changes to his diet which should help with the chalky wee, also I think he is a bit chunky in weight which may be why he is weeing outside his cage so I have cut his portion size down slightly and am now bracing myself for a very grumpy rabbit.

He mainly eats (obviously not at once)

Spring Greens
Sweetheart Cabbage
Carrots with & without tops
Broccoli (once a week)
Celery (once every 2 weeks)
Fresh herbs
Kale (once a month)
Apple
Sunflower seeds (treat)
1/2 rivita or cream cracker (treat)

I hope all of the above is ok (I suspect the crackers may be a bit naughty), if any of the above is a big no no than please let me know.

Thanks again
 
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